Hey all, been a lurker and decided to join. I picked up a Global G-5 today. I know this isn't a custom made blade, but it's a significant upgrade for me. I'm wondering if you guys can provide me some tips for using and taking care of it.

I currently own a spyderco sharpmaker and plan on using it to keep the Global sharp. I also picked up a Boos cutting board. With regular use how often should I hit the knife with the Sharpmaker? I have a honing steel as well, but I'm worried that I may hurt the edge since I'm new to using a steel.

Any advice, tips, or recommendations for further reading is appreciated!:thumbsup:

tk59

03-02-2012, 11:41 PM

Looks like you're set. The next step is to learn to sharpen freehand since the Sharpmaker is kinda limited. As for the steel, just go slow and look at what you're doing. The edge should kiss the steel. Don't give in to the tendency to go fast. There's not much to taking care of a Global. Pretty tough knives. You should sharpen when you see chips in your edge or the edge isn't cutting it after a few passes on the steel.

mr drinky

03-02-2012, 11:43 PM

Also, don't let Lefty get ahold of it ;)

k.

tk59

03-02-2012, 11:52 PM

Also, don't let Lefty get ahold of it ;)

k.:rofl2:

Lefty

03-03-2012, 12:00 AM

Hahahah.
Hey, I already have one coming my way to beat on! I have to admit, I'm REALLY looking forward to it. :D
A Global should be a good intro for you, Shinob1.

Shinob1

03-03-2012, 12:15 AM

Thanks for the tips so far. I'm really looking forward to putting the knife through its paces this weekend.

With the G5 and perhaps Globals as a whole, what king of bevel do they have? Is it a chisel or is it something else? I have been doing some reading and someone referred to it as a "apple" bevel. They also went on to say that Globals have 10 degree bevel on each side.

This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCa8JFDdyJU shows a guy using a steel and a Sharpmaker on a Global. He said to angle the blade an additional 5 degrees, but the person at the store said that the knife was 30 degrees so I assumed i could use the Sharpmaker on the 30 degree setting. Is that true or do I need to take some special consideration when sharpening the blade?

ThEoRy

03-03-2012, 12:20 AM

Hey all, been a lurker and decided to join. I picked up a Global G-5 today. I know this isn't a custom made blade, but it's a significant upgrade for me. I'm wondering if you guys can provide me some tips for using and taking care of it.

I currently own a spyderco sharpmaker and plan on using it to keep the Global sharp. I also picked up a Boos cutting board. With regular use how often should I hit the knife with the Sharpmaker? I have a honing steel as well, but I'm worried that I may hurt the edge since I'm new to using a steel.

Any advice, tips, or recommendations for further reading is appreciated!:thumbsup:

Welcome!!

What kind of honing rod do you have? Hopefully one which is harder than your knife. Here's a few basics about honing your kitchen knife.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAWcQOc93ec

Eventually (soonish) you may want to invest in a water stone for proper freehand sharpening. A simple 1/6k combo stone should do the trick for you. I know that Global steel can be a pita to sharpen sometimes so, good luck! Any questions, fire away!

ThEoRy

03-03-2012, 12:25 AM

Thanks for the tips so far. I'm really looking forward to putting the knife through its paces this weekend.

With the G5 and perhaps Globals as a whole, what king of bevel do they have? Is it a chisel or is it something else? I have been doing some reading and someone referred to it as a "apple" bevel. They also went on to say that Globals have 10 degree bevel on each side.

This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCa8JFDdyJU shows a guy using a steel and a Sharpmaker on a Global. He said to angle the blade an additional 5 degrees, but the person at the store said that the knife was 30 degrees so I assumed i could use the Sharpmaker on the 30 degree setting. Is that true or do I need to take some special consideration when sharpening the blade?

My global came with and is recommended by the manufacturer to have a 70/30 asymmetrical bevel. The suggestion that the angle is 30 degrees is probably meant for both sides equaling 30. I can't give you an exact number on my angles for the G-19 I have but the front is about 10 and the back is about 15-20.

tk59

03-03-2012, 12:42 AM

OOTB bevels on a lot of knives aren't great. Globals are no exception, in my experience. Globals are relatively soft at 58 hrc (That's softer than any honing steel I know of.) so don't go below 25 total included angle unless you've tried the 25 deg first. Basically, start thick and work your way thinner until the edge just doesn't hold up as long as you'd like and then back off on the next sharpening.

Johnny.B.Good

03-03-2012, 12:44 AM

Welcome to the forum Shinob1, and congrats on the new blade.

Shinob1

03-03-2012, 12:51 AM

The steel that I have is the one that came with my Henkel knife set. Perhaps the Global is too hard for that rod to be effective? My initial thought is I would run my new knife across the Sharpmaker on the fine stones using the flat side everytime I use the knife. However I'd prefer to learn and use the honing steel which I have been using on my current blades. I'm just not sure if I am doing it right. I'll be sure to watch that video.

If the front bevel is 10, then I am going to run into an issue with the Sharpmaker. I can use the 15 angle for the back bevel, but I'll have to angle the knife slightly when working on the edge.

I want to pick up some water stones and learn freehand sharpening, but I don't want to mess up my new blade. I was hoping to use the Sharpmaker in the short term to keep the G5 sharp and practice freehand on my less expensive knives.

EDIT: Thanks all for the warm welcome! I've been a knife collector since I was 5,(32 now), but recently started cooking and getting into kitchen cutlery.

sachem allison

03-03-2012, 01:44 AM

welcome!

tk59

03-03-2012, 02:12 AM

The steel that I have is the one that came with my Henkel knife set. Perhaps the Global is too hard for that rod to be effective? My initial thought is I would run my new knife across the Sharpmaker on the fine stones using the flat side everytime I use the knife. However I'd prefer to learn and use the honing steel which I have been using on my current blades. I'm just not sure if I am doing it right. I'll be sure to watch that video.

If the front bevel is 10, then I am going to run into an issue with the Sharpmaker. I can use the 15 angle for the back bevel, but I'll have to angle the knife slightly when working on the edge.

I want to pick up some water stones and learn freehand sharpening, but I don't want to mess up my new blade. I was hoping to use the Sharpmaker in the short term to keep the G5 sharp and practice freehand on my less expensive knives.

EDIT: Thanks all for the warm welcome! I've been a knife collector since I was 5,(32 now), but recently started cooking and getting into kitchen cutlery.Henckels (and any other steel made by a reputable manufacturer) are easily 61 hrc and probably more like 63+ hrc, so you're fine there. The problem is the grooves may be very coarse and will jack up your edges. You need something textured but very fine or possibly something smooth but that comes with it's own issues. 15 deg on a side is going to be fine for now. If you aren't satisified with that, you'll have to figure out how to lower your angles.

slowtyper

03-03-2012, 02:23 AM

Welcome!!

What kind of honing rod do you have? Hopefully one which is harder than your knife. Here's a few basics about honing your kitchen knife.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAWcQOc93ec

Eventually (soonish) you may want to invest in a water stone for proper freehand sharpening. A simple 1/6k combo stone should do the trick for you. I know that Global steel can be a pita to sharpen sometimes so, good luck! Any questions, fire away!

What are all those black cubes on your wall?

ThEoRy

03-03-2012, 02:33 AM

What are all those black cubes on your wall?

I record vocals and mix tracks in this room. Bass frequencies get trapped in the corners and the foam cubes help disperse the sound more evenly throughout the room so you can get a larger sweet spot with a more accurate sound.

The Edge

03-03-2012, 02:47 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAWcQOc93ec

On a side note, that thing you do with your fingers is exactly how I show people what honing really does. Glad to know I'm not talking out of my A$$.

Shinob1

03-05-2012, 11:27 AM

I have to say using the knife this weekend was fantastic! It made cutting vegetables so much easier and more enjoyable. To me the knife is very sharp, but from what I've read, OOTB edges are sub-par. However for me I feel this is a good starting point.

The video above was very helpful. With that knowledge I think I'll be set to use the honing steel I have.

My next purchase I believe will be a water stone and a strop. Not sure where the priority should lay, but I am VERY interested in stropping my blades, since that seems to be the difference between sharp and scary sharp. As for freehand sharpening, I've always wanted to learn that skill and I think my Henkel knifes will serve as a good starting point and once I'm getting a good edge, I'll move on to sharpening the Global with it and perhaps leave the sharpmaker altogether.

tk59

03-05-2012, 11:52 AM

...My next purchase I believe will be a water stone and a strop. Not sure where the priority should lay...You need a stone (or two). A strop is just gravy. Once you get really proficient with stones, you'll probably find that the strop is more of a deburring tool than anything else.

mhlee

03-05-2012, 12:01 PM

I don't own a G-5, but I've owned 4 Global knives, and still have three of them, including a similar knife, a GS-5, the 5 1/2 vegetable knife. Personally, in my opinion, in order to maximize the performance of the knife, you'll need to eventually purchase a stone because all of the Global knives I've had have had very poor grinds/bevels on the tips. Prior to sharpening the knives on a stone, I found that all of my Globals to be very clumsy when attempting to do very delicate, precise tip work, e.g. vertically chopping onions, garlic, etc. However, once I sharpened the tip of each Global that I owned, each knife cut significantly better.

I've used a King 1000 over the years and still do to this day. It's an inexpensive stone, and does just fine on Globals. Add a strop to the mix and you'll be able to get a pretty sharp edge on your Global.

memorael

03-05-2012, 12:26 PM

I have owned about 4 globals and think they are pretty good knives compared to other similar quality and market knives like henckels and wusthofs. That being said they will hardly ever rust even if you try and as I recall I once accidentally tried to cut through a piece of wire that wraps around things like carrot tops or trash bags used to have some in there too, anyway I didn't cut through it but the knife bent rather than chip which I think is a pretty good characteristic for a regular knife. Had that been one of my honyakis or a other high end knife there would have been some pretty bad damage... probably a huge chip or worst case scenario a crack in the knife blade.

King stones work wonders on those knives and also the edge OOTB comes convex which is good, the angle I think is supposedly like 23 included which means around 10 degrees per side would work fine anything lower will probably mess your day up.

Lefty

03-05-2012, 12:27 PM

I'm putting a Global through some...ahem...testing, as we speak. I agree the king 1k is a good place to start, but I used a 6k Suehiro on it as well, and it was a match made in heaven! The king did what it had to do, but the Suehiro let me know where/when a burr was folding, gave me tactile feedback on how polished the bevel was getting and to top it all off, was really effective on the Global's stubborn steel.
I also agree with the tip "issue". While I'm testing a used one out, the tip does feel a little clumsy compared to the knife that I'm considering in the same "range" as the Global, a Misono moly. The Misono danced through the vertical cuts, while the Global kind of glanced through, meaning I had to concentrate on my blade angle.
Either way, so far so good. I've used much worse.

Shinob1

03-05-2012, 02:08 PM

So for those of you with experience sharpening globals - did the convex edge cause any additional headaches? I'm reading that convex and global knifes in general are more difficult to sharpen. By putting the knife to a stone, did you grind away the convex edge into a more standard bevel edge?

TB_London

03-05-2012, 04:16 PM

I just sharpened like normal but take more time making sure I deburr

mhlee

03-05-2012, 05:00 PM

No. I just used the magic marker trick, kept the factory angle, and focused on sharpening the tip. I used moderate pressure (imagine pushing down on a table with your fingertips to the point that it feels hard on your fingers) when sharpening because I did not get good results using light pressure. After sharpening both sides, I deburred by using a hard felt block, and stropped on a felt pad.

The convexity goes farther up the knife than just the factory bevel. You shouldn't be able to grind away the convex edge unless you sharpen at a really low angle and use a lot of pressure.

I have also taken my globals up to a King 6000. The edge can get very sharp but the sharpness does not last long. I actually much prefer the toothier edge of the King 1000. Personally, the beauty of Globals is, IMHO, and as has been previously mentioned, the toughness of the steel. I prefer using other knives I have for day to day use, but if I want to hack some chicken bones or cut through cartilage, I'll still use my Global because I'm not afraid to bang it around.

Shinob1

03-05-2012, 05:10 PM

With your sharpening do you have as good of an edge as OOTB, better, or worse? I'm thinking a King 1k stone might be in my immediate future along with a strop.

No. I just used the magic marker trick, kept the factory angle, and focused on sharpening the tip. I used moderate pressure (imagine pushing down on a table with your fingertips to the point that it feels hard on your fingers) when sharpening because I did not get good results using light pressure. After sharpening both sides, I deburred by using a hard felt block, and stropped on a felt pad.

The convexity goes farther up the knife than just the factory bevel. You shouldn't be able to grind away the convex edge unless you sharpen at a really low angle and use a lot of pressure.

I have also taken my globals up to a King 6000. The edge can get very sharp but the sharpness does not last long. I actually much prefer the toothier edge of the King 1000. Personally, the beauty of Globals is, IMHO, and as has been previously mentioned, the toughness of the steel. I prefer using other knives I have for day to day use, but if I want to hack some chicken bones or cut through cartilage, I'll still use my Global because I'm not afraid to bang it around.

tk59

03-05-2012, 05:13 PM

I just sharpened like normal but take more time making sure I deburr+1. I wouldn't worry about a convex edge. Unless you are pretty careful (and steady) you will produce a convex edge whether you like it or not.

mhlee

03-05-2012, 05:45 PM

With your sharpening do you have as good of an edge as OOTB, better, or worse? I'm thinking a King 1k stone might be in my immediate future along with a strop.

Better. I think you'll be surprised. Take a look at the videos on youtube by Jon Broida and other users here. Use the magic marker trick - just take a dry erase pen and mark the edge (I prefer marking the length of the edge) and sharpen lightly at first to make sure you're hitting the edge. Once you've done that, you can slowly progress in speed and pressure. But note that it's not necessary to use a lot of pressure and you shouldn't.

If you're interested in taking that next step and buying a stone, ask around here. As much as I use my King 1000, I think you could do a lot better. I just happen to use it because I've used it for a long time and I like futzing around with it - using light versus moderate pressure, no mud, using it with lots of mud, etc. It's kind of a starter stone, but since it is a 1000 grit stone, it can take a good amount of metal off if you use pressure and are aggressive with it.

And +1 to tk. You'll put a convex edge when you sharpen on a stone.

Lefty

03-05-2012, 05:53 PM

I'm a king fan. They are surprisingly versatile, muddy little beasts.

mhlee

03-05-2012, 06:39 PM

I should clarify. I think you could do a lot better depending on what you're looking for in a stone and how much you want to spend. But, for the price, I've been very happy with my King 1000. I'm sure I paid less than 20 bucks for it (the one with a plastic base) back in the day.

Lefty

03-05-2012, 07:56 PM

Yup, Michael and I are on the same page here. :)

Shinob1

03-06-2012, 10:15 AM

What I'm looking for is something basic, something that I can learn on and not break the bank. From the reading I'm doing, a 1000 grit stone should get me going and later I'll add a higher grit stone. However I don't have anything currently for deburring. There might be a wine cork I can find somewhere, but outside of that, I don't have anything to use. I'm trying to put together a "kit" of sorts for around 100 usd that will last me a long time.

SpikeC

03-06-2012, 07:56 PM

I often de-burr on the edge of a piece of wood. Anything firm that the edge can get a bite into will work.

EdipisReks

03-06-2012, 07:58 PM

I often de-burr on the edge of a piece of wood. Anything firm that the edge can get a bite into will work.

same here, when i'm in a hurry. edge of the cutting board is okay.

mhlee

03-06-2012, 09:16 PM

I've seen Jon Broida of JKI deburr on newspaper.

slowtyper

03-06-2012, 09:22 PM

Usually deburr on my strop (just a piece of wood with leather glued on it) or more often a wooden spoon.